Saving Me
by thatwriterchick
Summary: The bond between Naruto and Sasuke is one that cannot be broken. Shonen-ai.


Saving Me

_**Prison gates won't open up for me**_

_**On these hands and knees, I'm crawlin'**_

_**Oh, I reach for you**_

I lay on my bed in my room, which was dark, save for the light of a single candle. But I was used to it. I had always been in the dark. From the time I was seven years old my life had be filled with nothing but darkness and hatred. Losing one's clan by one's brother's hand will do that to a person. His Mangekyo eyes haunted my dreams every night and my thoughts every day. He had turned my life into a living hell. For me each day was anguish and darkness, hatred and darkness. Always the never ending dark. How I had longed for the dawn which never came. He was the closest thing I had ever had to a dawn.

He had always been there, blundering and tripping in the background. I had convinced myself that he was beneath my notice, as he was neither talented nor could help me on my path of revenge. But I couldn't help but notice that he, too, was alone. He may have even been worse off than I was. I at least had the memories of love and affection, thoughts of revenge, and the desire to live up to my illustrious family name to keep me going. That poor Uzumaki kid had nothing. I had always wondered if that was the reason for his substandard performance through out our academy years. Then I would see him mess up in class and I would remind myself that he had no memories of love or family, so he probably didn't even know what he was missing. _Why are you pondering Uzumaki's situation in life? _I would ask myself, _You should be more concerned with your own._

Then we were placed on the same team after passing the graduation exam. I had thought that he hadn't passed, but apparently I had missed something as he was there squatting on the desk glaring at me. Try as I might to keep my mind from wandering down that path, it did anyway. Truth be told, I had never quite forgotten the feel of his lips pressed against my own, firm yet some how soft. That moment had been the turning point, the first glimmer of light in an otherwise gloomy and dreary existence.

_**I'm terrified of these four walls**_

_**These iron bars can't hold my soul in**_

_**All I need is you**_

I was lying on back on my bed, once again asking why. Why had the Nine Tails been sealed inside of me? Why not someone else? Why was _I_ alone? As these questions rolled around in my head, I moved so that I was on my side. I was facing my bedside table. I reached out and gently nudged the picture frame there so that it I could see the picture better. It was one of my most prized possessions. It was a picture of my team before he left. As I looked at his twelve year old face, another question joined the rest. _Why did you leave me, Sasuke?_ I asked the picture in my head.

Memories quickly followed this question. They flowed through my head like river rapids, sweeping away any peace of mind I had. Sasuke standing in front of me, protecting me, with senbon sticking out of his body. Sasuke turning towards me with his classic smirk in place, "You're not hurt are you? Scaredy Cat."

Every time he called me a loser or an idiot rang loudly in my ears. Then suddenly, it stopped, only to be replaced by some of the last words he said to me before walking out of my life. "You became my closest friend…It wasn't meaningless. It had more meaning than you will ever know."

And not long ago, I had another encounter with him. This time he told me he had left me alive at Final Valley on a whim and, that on another whim, he would take it away. Out of all the things he ever said to me, this had hurt the most. He had said that I was his best friend and that it wasn't meaningless and here he was contradicting it. Didn't he remember the way I did? I always pulled out that memory when life seemed it's most difficult. Because that was the first time I had ever really truly felt love. When his lips touched mine, I realized that I had loved him all along. I realized that day, that my heart was his and always would be. What he did with it was up to him.

_**Come please I'm callin'**_

_**And oh I scream for you**_

_**Hurry I'm fallin', I'm fallin'**_

_It's time. Time to make my move. Time to kill my brother._

I had defeated Orochimaru and gathered Suigetsu, Karin, and Juugo. My plan was in motion, but there was one thing I needed to do before going after my brother. I left my new team about a mile outside the village, transformed my appearance, and slipped inside. I was hoping Tsunade hadn't sent him on a mission recently. I needed to see Naruto. I knew I was going to kill my brother. However, I was less certain of my own survival. This may be my last opportunity to see him.

The night before I attacked Orochimaru, when Naruto kept intruding on my thoughts, I had a realization. I was in love with Naruto. There was no way around it. No matter how much I swore to myself that I wouldn't love anyone, that I didn't need to love anyone, it had happened anyway. That clumsy, bumbling idiot had slipped through my defenses when no one else could. He had become my own personal sun without my even realizing it. His smile could light up the deepest, darkest, coldest regions of my heart. I used to wonder why I had saved him as the boy in the mask swooped in for the kill or every time his clumsiness had nearly caused his death. Or why I left him alive when we fought at Final Valley. I now knew it was because I couldn't bear to lose him the way I had lost everyone else.

I made my way to his apartment building and climbed up its side. I reached his window and pushed. The dobe had left his window unlocked. He had always been stupid and careless but that was part of what I loved about him, even if I would never admit it outside the privacy of my own mind. I sat down on his bed and saw on his bedside table a picture of Team Seven when I was still on it. Naruto must have been looking at it before he fell asleep. Next to it was a Leaf Village headband with a scratch through the symbol. I gently picked it up. I would know this headband anywhere. I couldn't believe he had kept it all these years. I had always known he was overly sentimental for a ninja, but this was bordering on ridiculous, keeping my Leaf headband. It made me want to smile and cry at the same time, knowing I meant so much to him. But I had always been good at controlling my emotions and I certainly wasn't going to let them get the better of me now. I gently set my headband down and lay back on the bed. He could keep it. He obviously needed it more than I did.

As I waited for Naruto to return, I let my mind wander where it would. It eventually landed on a song I had heard once many years ago but had never forgotten. It had spoken to me so deeply that it was etched in my mind forever.

_I've been looking in the mirror for so long/ That I've come to believe my soul's on the other side/ All the little pieces falling, shatter/ Shards of me too sharp to put back together/ To small to matter/ But big enough to cut me into so many little pieces/ If it try to touch her/ And I bleed/ I bleed/ And I breathe/ I breathe no more…_

I waited until sunset and Naruto hadn't come home yet. He must be out on a mission so I wrote a message for him on a slip of paper and placed it on top of my headband. I knew he would find it there. I slipped out of his window knowing I would see him before I left to find my brother. I needed to see him almost more than I needed air.

_**Show me what it's like**_

_**To be the last one standing**_

_**And teach me wrong from right**_

_**And I'll show you what I can be**_

_**Say it for me**_

_**Say it to me**_

_**And I'll leave this life behind me**_

_**Say it if it's worth saving me**_

I had just returned home after a particularly difficult mission. We had successfully taken out two Akatsuki members so it was worth it. I had fractured my arm and had been in the hospital for several days. Now that my arm was almost completely healed, I was allowed to return to my apartment. When I walked in, I immediately felt a difference. I looked at my bed and saw that someone had laid on it recently. I quickly glanced at my picture and Sasuke's headband to make sure they were still there. I saw a piece of paper lying where I kept the headband. Curious, I walked over and picked it up.

_Naruto,_

_I need to see you. As soon as you find this, come to me. I'm hiding just outside the village. Here are my coordinates…_

He had written down a series of numbers that I could use to find him. There was no name but there was only one person I could think of that would have left this. I quickly picked my orange jacket up off the floor and threw it on. I dashed out the door and made my way to the clearing that the coordinates led to. When I was a few meters from the edge of the clearing, I slowed down. The joy in my heart had suddenly become nervousness. What if he was waiting to kill me? But I had already made that choice long ago. Hadn't I decided that my heart would always belong to him and he could do what he wanted with it? But I still didn't want to die. I had too much left to achieve. But I also couldn't pass up the opportunity to see him, to speak to him, to convince him to come home with me. I took a deep breath and walked into the clearing.

I saw him standing in the middle of the clearing, looking up at the sky. It was him. It was really him. I had always known he would come back. There was a bond between us that was too strong to be ignored, no matter how much he talked of severing it. He turned slowly towards me. His eyes met mine and I felt an inexplicable calm settle over me.

"Naruto."

"Sasuke," I whispered, knowing he would hear, "I knew you would come."

He appeared in front of me and took my face in his and kissed me. It was so quick and unexpected that I almost fell over, but he held me and kept me from toppling to the ground. His kiss was deep and passionate and shook me to my absolute core. I had never felt anything like it in my life. I slipped my arms around his neck and pulled him deeper into the kiss. He moved his arms to my waist and licked my lower lip. I opened my mouth to him, unable to deny him anything. It wasn't a soft and gentle kiss, nor had I expected one. It was Sasuke, after all, and he never did anything softly or gently.

When he tried to pull away, I clung to him harder. "Naruto, please," he said against my lips. The please more than anything made me loosen my grip, although I couldn't bring myself to let go completely. Sasuke rarely said please.

He looked into my eyes and surprised me even further by saying, "I love you."

I felt a tear slip down my cheek. "You don't know how long I've waited to hear that," I whispered.

As he wiped the tear from my face, I felt myself starting to grin. I threw myself into his arms. "I love you, Sasuke," I yelled. I felt Sasuke stumble backwards as he tried to regain his equilibrium. When he had his balance back, he began to laugh. A happy laugh. Something I hadn't heard from him before. I pulled away slightly so that I could take in his face as he laughed. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

_**Heaven's gates won't open up for me**_

_**With these broken wings I'm fallin'**_

_**And all I see is you**_

It was shortly before dawn. I could tell by the colors of the sky. Last night was the first time I had felt genuinely happy in a long time. It had been so long since I had felt that particular emotion that I had forgotten it entirely. Naruto was the reason for remembering what happiness and love felt like. He had become the reason for almost everything in my life. The only thing he wasn't the reason for was my revenge. I was fervently praying to every God, known and unknown, that I would survive my upcoming battle with Itachi so that I could return to the Leaf Village and start a life with my Naruto. He was my Naruto now. He had given everything to me last night. And in return I was willing to face whatever punishment the Hokage bestowed upon me, just to be with him. I was filled with self-loathing, knowing that I would have to leave him once again. It was going to hurt him worse this time. I knew it. But I couldn't risk my brother using him against me. It was better that I was going to be as far away from him as I could get until this was over. But this thought didn't make me hate myself any less.

I rolled over on to my side so I could watch him sleep. He was so beautiful. It only hurt me more to look at his peaceful sleeping face. I knew that peace on his face would be short lived. The more I looked at Naruto sleeping beside me, the more I blamed the state of my life on Itachi. It was his fault I couldn't be with the man I loved the way I wanted to be. It was his fault that I had to rip myself apart and rip Naruto apart in the process. Hatred coursed through my veins, stronger than ever before. Naruto rolled over onto his back and started snoring slightly. As I watched him, that song entered my head again. It was more appropriate than ever.

I started to whisper the part of the song that worked best for the situation. As I whispered the lyrics, I gently caressed Naruto's face. I couldn't help it. The sun had risen as was falling across his face. He was so golden, so perfect. _"Lie to me/ Convince me that I've been sick forever/ And all of this will make sense when I get better/ But_ _I know the difference/ between myself and my reflection/ I just can't help but to wonder/ Which of us do you love?/ So I bleed/ I bleed/ And I breathe/ I breathe now…"_

I blinked away a tear and I felt it run down my face and into my hair. As I ran my finger gently over his lips, Naruto screwed up his face. I cupped his cheek in my hand and he opened his eyes. He looked over at my hand and then followed my arm with his eyes until they landed on my face. Confusion clouded his expression for a few seconds and then a wide grin spread across his face. I felt my smile in response, his smile shining deeply into my heart. "So it wasn't a dream," he said.

"No." I stated simply. He pressed is lips to mine. After a few seconds, I positioned myself so that I was half on top of him and deepened the kiss. I could feel the skin of his bare chest against my equally unclothed torso. We remained like this for several minutes and then he pushed me off of him. He stood up and started to collect his clothes which had been strewn across the clearing. He pulled on his boxers and pants and then picked mine up and threw them at me. "I know you probably want to go again, but we have to hurry. We need to see the Granny Tsunade so she can reinstate you on Team Kakashi."

The self-loathing returned threefold. I stood and began to dress, avoiding his eyes. I was putting my arm guards on when he said, "Sasuke, you are coming home aren't you?"

I remained silent as I slipped my arms into my silk sleeves and picked up my katana and placed it on my back. Then I turned to face him. He now had is undershirt and jacket on, although the jacket was unzipped. "I'm sorry, Naruto."

The look that he gave me hit me harder than I was expecting. I walked to him and took his face in my hands. "I have to leave again. This was just a visit. I had to see you. I couldn't stay away any longer. But there are thing I need to do before we can be together. You know this better than anyone."

Tears started to stream down his face, "I know. But I was hoping…"

I kissed him gently then said, "I know and someday we will be. I love you, Naruto."

I held him close, kissed him one last time, and turned to go back to my team. Before I left the clearing, I looked back at him and he shouted, "I love you!" I turned my face before he could see the silent tears that escaped.

_**These city walls ain't got no love for me**_

_**I'm on the ledge of the eighteenth story**_

_**And oh I scream for you**_

I watched as he walked away again. I couldn't stop the tears that poured down my face. I had hoped that he would save me from my loneliness but he only left again. I turned and made my way back to the village. Next time I would bring home, even if I had to break every bone in his body and then drag him there.

"_Sasuke. Please save me from the loneliness."_

"_Naruto. Save me from the darkness."_

_**Say it if it's worth saving me.**_

Author's Note: This is such a profound and amazing oneshot and I hope you love it as much as I loved writing it. I've put so much of myself into this story. It's an extra special oneshot that I'm writing for an extra special friend. He works tirelessly for what he believes in and this is my way of showing my gratitude to him for making the world a better place, loving and being there for me, and inspiring me in the deepest way imaginable. He has touched my life deeply and this is how I'm showing him how amazing he is.

The songs used in this story are Savin' Me by Nickleback and Breathe No More by Evanescence.


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